Petriochor

1. Prepare an area of soil at least three feet square. This must be kept free of plants and should ideally be exposed to the sun for at least part of the day, and unshaded by trees, etc. If possible no pesticides, fertilizers, etc should be present, but it should also have a high organic content from previous cultivation.

2. Collect some of this soil at a specific time between the last full Moon in May and the full Moon following the Solsice. This time depends on the weather, but is always in the hour before dawn. The time is right when following a period of warm, dry weather which has lasted for at least seven days, there is rain in the hours before dawn. Thi srain should easily be a light drizzle.

3. The soil should be collected and placed immediately in an airtight container. As soon as possible it should be transferred to a suitable receptacle connected to distillation equipment, and a low heat applied for a period of time which only practical experiment can show. The “essence” collected is the basis for incense.

4. Then make up as a normal perfume/oil using a natural base, eg. sweet almond oil, into which the “essence” is infused/mixed.